Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Christian Pronouns

Last Wednesday night a member of the Kingsville youth group had a test coming up and she was really worried about it. Of course, whenever people are worried about something they have coming up that is going to test them, the standard to flip to is Phillipians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Here's the funny part, her test was on pronouns which to me was so cool since this verse starts and finishes with a pronoun; "I" being Paul and "me" also Paul.
It turns out that there could be no greater verse in the Bible to do a quick study of pronouns and this study inspired me to write about all of us becomining Christian pronouns.


I can do all things through Christ who stengthens ME
If you are reading this blog post I want you to know that there is nothing that you can not do through Christ. The beauty of the verse in Phillipians 4 is that prior to this great verse, Paul is discussing how he hasn't always had things turn out the way he thought. His point was that he still knows that if it is Christ's will, there is nothing he can not do and no amount of strength needed that Christ will not provide for him. Tell yourself daily that you can most certinaly do anything you want if you do it through Christ.
YOU can do all things through Christ who strengthens YOU
I have faith that you, the person reading this, can do whatever plan Christ has planned for you. Christ will allow us to be tested in this life (1 Thes. 2:4) but never beyond what we can withstand. If you will allow Christ to take over your heart and will search for your resolve and strength in Him, He will provide it. If you meet someone today, remind them of this fact and tell them of the strength that comes from Christ.
WE can do all things through Christ who strengthens US
If you are like me, as you travel this pilgrim land you shake your head daily at the state of the world and its obsecene Godlessness. I have faith that if we, the true Christian soldiers on the Earth, can come together and decide that today is enough and that we are going to show this world the love of Christ, that we can do it. Read my post from yesterday to see one area in which I truly believe Christ is soon to begin doing great work. The New Testament speaks often about the great things that a group of Christians can do so long as they keep obedience to Christ at the center of their efforts. Tell your Christian friends, your congregation, and your family today that WE are going to begin looking to Christ for what he wants US to do as start doing it. Why you ask....?
THEY can do all things through Christ who strengthens THEM
There is a world full of individuals who need to know this message. WE must teach it to THEM. This past year I have been privileged enough to see a great number of people make the decision that they are going to start leaning on Christ and die to their self. The turn arounds in their lives is remarkable and is a testament to the fact that there is nothing anyone can not do once they begin to lean on Jesus (by the way, what a great song "Leaning on Jesus" is). I believe that if YOU will join ME and the rest of US that WE can teach THEM and allow THEM to see that THEY need Jesus as much as the rest of US.
Take note please that there was one noun in that verse that never changed and that never changes. That noun is Christ. If you remove Christ from this verse then you are left with an unintelligible mess. This is already taking place all around us and people are beginning to place other proper names or things in the place of Christ and disguising it as Christianity. We live in a society where people say, "I can do all things through E-Trade who strengthens me," or "through the NFL", "Budweiser", or any number of other things. We must return Christ to this verse. I hope that you will join me and become a Christian pronoun.

2 comments:

Will White said...

That will preach.

Dave Brumley said...

Yeah, used it for my devo last night.